Double electric grill with pressure applying means



March 24, 1953 -H. M. Kup 2,632,379

DOUBLE ELECTRIC GRILL WITH PRESSURE APPLYING MEANS Filed June 22, 1951H4/QOLD M: Kl/DZ? Patented Mar. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEDOUBLE ELECTRIC GRILL WITH PRESSURE APPLYING MEANS 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a double electric cooking grill forsimultaneously cooking a food item, such as a steak, on both sidesthereof and for applying a desired and uniform pressure to all portionsof the food item whereby a rapid and uniform cooking is accomplished.

In restaurants and other eating establishments cooking of food such assteaks must be rapidly accomplished in order to provide the desiredprompt service expected by customers. Accor ingly, it is a primaryobject of the present invention to provide an electric grill whereinrapid cooking may be accomplished without any sacriflce in quality andwherein, as for example, in the cooking of a steak both sides of thepiece of meat may be simultaneously seared to maintain the juicestherein and by maintenance of a proper pressure on the steak at alltimes uniform cooking of the steak can be rapidly accomplished.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grill wherein a desireduniform pressure may be maintained at all times on the item being cookedand whereby adjustments can be readily made to compensate for shrinkageduring cooking and to increase the pressure as desired after the initialstages 01 the cooking has been accomplished and the food item has becomemore firm.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an electric grillwherein the pressure may be minimized to any desired extent in cookingcertain soft foods requiring little or no pressure.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a grill which maybe adjusted for cocking food items or different thickness and which willassure the maintenance of a uniform pressure over the entire area of thefood item irrespective or its thickness.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an electric grillhaving a novel means to facilitate the cleaning of the grill to removeoil, grease, carbon and small food fragments therefrom and which willprevent an of such items falling from the grill onto a table or othersupporting surface.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the electric grill;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view thereof looking from right to leftof Figure 1; I

Figure 3 is. a top plan view thereof partly in 2 section, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alonga plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View takensubstantially along a plane provided with an upper portion which risesfrom the upper surface of the grill plate H and which forms anupstanding surrounding wall I 3. A sub bottom M is suitably securedwithin the bottom portion of the flange I2 and combines with the grillplate II and flange E2 to form a chamber 5 5 in which an electricheating element 56 is suitably supported. As illustrated in Figure 3,each of the sections 9 and It] is of elongated rectangular shape and oneend of the section 9, constituting the front of the grill 8, is providedwith an arm. ll which may be formed integral-with the flange i2 andwhich projects outwardly therefrom, as best seen in Figure tion H issupported by legs 18 which depend from the corners of the flange 42 andwhich may be formed integral therewith. The rear portion of the flangel2 intermediate of its side edges and in longitudinal alignment with theextension H, is provided with spaced vertically disposed ribs l9 formedon the exterior thereof, and said flange I 2, between the ribs 19 andbeneath the grill plate H, is provided with an elongated verticallyextending slot 28 for receiving the shank of a bolt 2| which extendsoutwardly therethrough and the head of which is disposed against theinner side of the flange 52. An arcuately curved supporting arm 22 isprovided with a straight substantially flat end 23 which fits slidablyand nonrotatably between the ribs l9 and which is provided with anopening 24 through which the shank of the bolt 2! extends. A nut 25threadedly engages the outer end of the bolt 2! and is The bottom sec-'adapted to be tightened for clamping the arm portion 23 against theflange l2. It will be readily apparent that by loosening the nut 25 thearm 22 may be vertically adjusted within the limits provided by the slot25 and clamped in different vertically adjusted positions, for a purposewhich will hereinafter become apparent. I

The top grill section IQ is likewise an elongated rectangular structurebut smaller than the bottom section e to fit loosely within the wall 13,as best illustrated in Figure 3, and includes a top grill plate 25constituting the bottom wall of the upper grill section ill and which isprovided with an integral upstanding flange 21 rising from bothlongitudinal and transverse edges of the plate 26. An electrical heatingelement 28 is suitably supported within the surrounding flange 2'? aboveand adjacent the grill plate 26 and the open top of the upper sectionIt, defined by the upper edge of the flange 2'3, is closed by a closure29 which, like the closure l4, is preferably formed of electricalinsulating and heat insulating material. The closure 29 is likewisesuitably secured to the flange 2'! and is provided with a pair of spacedupstanding apertured cars 39 which are located intermediate of the sideedges of the section It and adjacent the end thereof disposed adjacentthe arm 22. The arm 22, opposite to its end 23, has an aperture end 3|which overlies a portion of the bottom grill plate H and which isdisposed between the apertured cars 39 and connected thereto by a pivotpin 32 which loosely engages the opening of said and M for swingablysupporting the upper grill section IS on the arm 22.

The bottom grill section Q is provided with an electric plug 33 which iselectrically connected to the heating element l and the top grillsection l!) is provided with an electric plug 34 which is connected tothe heating element 28. The plugs 33 and 3.34 are each adapted to bedetachably connected to an electric socket of an electric extensioncord, not shown, for energizing the heating elements l6 and 28.

The top section ill is provided with an arm 35 which projects forwardlytherefrom and which is preferably formed integral with the flange 27 atthe end thereof disposed remote to the ears 3%, said arm 35 beingdisposed intermediate of the side edges of the section IG and having anelongated slot 36 extending longitudinally thereof and opening outwardlyof its forward end The upper surface of the arm 3-5, on either side ofthe slot 36, is roughened, as indicated at 31. A pair of knobs 38 issecured to and project from the sides of the arm 35, inwardly of theslot 36.

The outer end of the arm IT is bifurcated to provide spaced verticallydisposed furcations 3?} for loosely receiving therebetween the slottedapertured end as of a threaded bolt M. A pivot pin 42 extends looselythrough the aperture of the bolt end All and through the furcations 33for mounting the bolt 4] from vertical swinging movement on the arm H.The bolt end 48 is preferably provided with an enlargement 43 forming astop to engage a portion of the arm I? to prevent the bolt 6! from beingswung upwardly beyond an upright position in a direction inwardly of thesections 9 and it. An elongated handle 44 has a threaded bore 45extending longitudinally therethrough in which the opposite end of thebolt 4| is threadedly engaged.

Said handle 44 is provided with an annular flange".

46 at its inner end which supports a head 4? which is swivelly mountedon the flange 45 loosely around the bolt 4i and which head is providedwith a roughened outer surface 48 and a plurality of tongues 49 whichproject from its inner side and are bent to overlie the flange 46. Thehandle M is provided with a plurality of spokes 50 which projectradially therefrom adjacent its opposite, outer end and which formfinger-holds for turning the handle.

A bolt 5! is threaded vertically through the arm ll, adjacent the innerend of said arm. Bolt 5| is provided with a knurled thumb knob 52 at itslower end and has a disk 53 at its upper end upon which is swivellysupported a head Ma, corresponding to the head 41, includin a roughenedouter surface 43a and tongues 49a.

As best seen in Figures 3 and 6, the wall I3 is provided with anoutwardly offset portion 53 on one side of the grill 8 and a tube 54 ofrectangular cross section extends downwardly from the wall portion 53and flange l2 and may be formed integral with said parts or suitablysecured thereto. The tube 56 extends below the bottom edge of .theflange l2 and is provided with knobs 55 which project outwardly fromopposite sides thereof. A receptacle 56 of rectangular cross section andhaving an open top slidably fits over the lower end of the tube 5d andcarries a pair of bails 5'! which are hinged at 58 to the outer sides oftwo oppositely disposed walls of the receptacle 56 and which haverestricted upper portions 59 engaging over the knobs 55 for supportingthe receptacle 58 with its upper end overlapping the open lower end ofthe tube 54. The receptacle 56 can be displaced upwardly for swingablydisconnecting the bails 5! from. the knobs 55 or for attaching saidbails thereto.

The grill 8 is adapted for cooking various foods and is particularlywell adapted for cooking steaks rapidly and uniformly. For cooking asteak, the nut 25 is loosened so that the arm 22 can be verticallyadjusted and the nut 25 then tightened to support the rear end of theupper grill plate 26 above the bottom grill plate H to accommodatesteaks of a particular thickness. The screw 5| is then backed ofi out ofengagement with the arm 35. After the top section It! is swungdownwardly to a horizontal position, the handle id is backed 01f so thatthe bolt 4| can be swung upwardly to engage in the slot 36, afterwhichthe handle 34 is turned to ad vance the head 4! into engagement with theroughened arm portion 3'! and the handle 44 is then tightened to obtainthe desired pressure. With theheating elements l6 and 28 energized, bothsides of the steak, not shown, will be cooked simultaneously andinitially scared to retain the juices therein. A steak is relativelytender when raw and as it is cooked becomes firmer and as the rapiditywith which the cooking operation will be accomplished depends upon thepressure applied to the steak, after the steak has been initially searedand has become more firm, the,

handle t l may be further tightened to apply a desired pressure to thesteak to insure a rapid uniform cooking thereof without, however,initially applying sufficient force to the steak while raw to cause itto be flattened. For cooking various other meats and other foodscontaining relatively large percentage of fats, as the food item iscooked and the fat melts. the pressure exerted by the top section H3 isreduced and which will be indicated by loosening of the handle 44, sothat said handle may be tightened on the bolt 4! during the cookingoperation to maintain a desired pressure at all times. For certain otherfood items such as meat and fish patties, a minimum of pressure isdesirable to prevent undue flattening of the foods, as frequently theweight of the top section it will provide too great a pressure, and forcooking such items the screw 5| is advanced upwardly so that its head47a engages under the arm 35 to support the top section [0 incombination with the arm 22 to thus maintain only a slight pressure onthe item being cooked.

After cooking any food item, the handle M- is backed off sufiiciently sothat the bolt 4| may be swung outwardly and downwardly and therebydisengaged from the notch 38. The knobs 88 are then grasped to swing theupper grill section It upwardly in a clockwise direction as seen inFigure 4 for exposing the bottom plate so that the cooked food may beremoved therefrom. Frequently, it is necessary to separate the fooditems from the grill plates H and 29 with a suitable utensil such as aspatula. When the grill section In is swung upwardly, the rear edge ofthe grill plate 28 will be supported by the arm 22 over the grill plateII so that grease will drain therefrom on the grill plate a l and foodparticles and carbon may be scraped therefrom onto the grill plate II.The grease, food particles and carbon, not shown, are then scraped witha spatula or other utensil into the wall portion 53 so that saidelements can fall by gravity through the tube 54 into the receptacle 59which can be removed and emptied when filled.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In an electric grill, a bottom grill section and a top grill section,each of said sections including a grill plate and a heating elementdisposed adjacent thereto for heating the grill plate, said grill platesbeing adjacently disposed, the grill plate of the bottom section beinglarger than the grill plate of the top section, said bottom sec- 6 tionhaving an upstanding wall surrounding the bottom grill plate and spacedoutwardly from the sides and ends of the top grill section, said wallincluding an outwardly offset portion having 2. depending downwardlyopening tube forming a drainage outlet for grease and other foreignmatter, a receptacle fitting over the discharge end of said tube, meansdetachably mounting the receptacle on said tube, an arm adjustablysecured rigidly to the rear end of the bottom grill section having anend disposed directly above a portion of the bottom grill plate, saidarm end being connected to a rear end of the top grill section forsupporting the top grill section swingably above the bottom grillsection and positioned relatively thereto whereby the top grill sectionis disposed to drain onto the bottom grill plate in either a closed or asubstantially upright open position, and means detachably and adjustablyconnecting the opposite, free ends of the grill sections for maintainingthe top grill section in a closed position above and substantiallyparallel to the bottom grill section and with the grill plates of thegrill sections in spaced apart substantially parallel relationship.

HAROLD M. KUDO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 721,455 Mackenzie Feb. 24, 19031,738,972 Strader Dec. 10, 1929 1,795,710 Clark Mar. 10, 1931 1,839,112Mills Dec. 29, 1931 1,848,729 Kuhn et a1. Mar. 8, 1932 1,929,166 FreemonOct. 3, 1933 1,988,087 Peron Jan. 15, 1935 2,012,546 Reinhardt Aug. 27,1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 69,895 Austria Sept. 10, 1915

